Paying For Surrogacy

Any pregnancy involves cost and expense, and a surrogate pregnancy is no exception. How you pay your surrogate, and how much you pay her, varies according to her demands or the requests of the surrogate agency for which she works. The amount of money you are allowed to pay her will also depend on the state in which you or she is living. In some states within the USA, it's illegal to pay a surrogate more than what covers her medical and legal costs. This means that surrogates in these states basically work purely out of good will - they want to help childless couples, and are prepared to do so without profit. You should carefully research the legal regulations regarding surrogacy in your state.

Pay Arrangements

Regardless of whether or not your surrogate is working for profit, you will need to decide how and when to give her money. Whether you're simply covering expenses or paying her a salary for her services, all the parties concerned need to agree on the amounts and frequency of payment.

There are specialized surrogacy attorneys who can help you to draw up a sound legal agreement, stating whether payment is to be made weekly, monthly, or after the baby is born; whether the surrogate should send you the receipts for her pregnancy-related costs before your reimburse her; or whether you'll provide money in advance or perhaps open a special bank account to which she has access.

Types Of Costs

So just what comes under the category or surrogacy expenses? Well - a great number of things can be considered expenses incurred because a woman is carrying your baby. For example:

Total Costs

The total costs of surrogacy can range from nearly nothing (if the surrogate is a friend or relative helping you out of love) to $50,000 or more. The price depends on the surrogate you hire. Calculating all the different costs can be difficult and intimidating, so you are advised to budget for an emergency fund to be used in the case of unforeseen expenses.

Surrogate Agencies

The complexity of arranging payment of a surrogate is what drives many couples to employ the services of a surrogate agency. An agency can often provide you with a set expenses package. This will include your attorney's fees, your surrogate's expenses, her profit and her agency's profit. Agencies may charge total costs which are higher than an independent surrogate's costs, but many couples are willing to pay extra for the stress and worry which the agency saves them. Whatever option you go for, do a price comparison between agencies and between independent surrogates and agencies, so that you will know if a surrogate's payment requests are abnormally high.